551 

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I UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, i 
















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MECHANICAL SCIENCE 


AND 


Cjw i]rbc Sgstem, 


IN 


RELATION TO AGRICULTURE. 


f -y of 


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1 Q i"*' Hi 

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BY WILLIAM DAY, 


// 


AUTHOR OF ‘ HOW TO STOP, AND WHEN TO STOP. PUNCTUATION REDUCED TO 

A SYSTEM,” 

AND “SLAVERY IN AMERICA SHOWN TO BE PECULIARLY ABOMINABLE.” 


LONDON: 

HARRISON, 59, PALL MALL. 

1857. 





















* 
















CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

Preface . 5 

CHAPTER I. 

Brief Review of the Progress of Mechanical Science, as applied 

to Agriculture . 9 

CHAPTER II. 

The Prize System advantageous in the Infancy of any Art or 

Science . 23 

CHAPTER III. 

The Disadvantages of the Prize System, as now practised by 
Agricultural Societies . 29 

CHAPTER IY. 

Suggestions for a Plan to Encourage the Improvement of 

Agricultural Implements.. 45 













r ' 

, 








'*% . 





■ 

















































. 






















x. 


PREFACE. 


As the writer of the following pages is not a 
manufacturer of agricultural machinery, nor has 
any pecuniary interest in the “ Prize System / 5 
relative to “ Mechanical Science, as applied 
to Agriculture,” it may be matter of surprise 
to some, that he should have animadverted on 
a system, adopted and acted upon by all the 
agricultural societies of the kingdom, composed, 
as those societies are, of so many practical judges 
of every thing connected with the land. 

Beyond the fact of the author entertaining an 
ardent desire for the advancement of his country’s 
agriculture, and anxiety to advocate whatever is 
likely to lead to that important end, he has no 



6 PREFACE. 

apology to offer for taking up the present subject 
in a spirit of independent inquiry, and with the 
sole desire of doing justice to all persons interested 
in it. 

The “ Prize System,” in its practical operation, 
is the source of so much perplexity to both the 
maker and buyer of agricultural implements, that 
a remedy for the evil is imperatively called for. 
The hope of either supplying this remedy, or of 
inducing the congregated wisdom of our agricul¬ 
tural societies to supply it, is motive enough, the 
author thinks, for bringing the evils of the existing 
system to light, by means of the public press. 

To give the decisive impulse, and to give it with 
energy,—to ensure, not the victory of a party, but 
the reform of a growing evil,—must be the work 
of those who are more immediately affected by its 
operations. The “ fitness calls them on.” Let 
them take a firm and forward step, now that they 
have reasonable hope that the footing is sure, and 
that they are in the right road. A thorough 
reform can be brought about in no other way. 
A partial improvement has already been effected 



PREFACE. 


7 


by the power which is here invoked ; and that is a 
most instructive fact. It ought to give a stimulus 
to further efforts in the same direction. No doubt, 
if the Royal Agricultural Society, in connexion 
with the implement-manufacturers, were to bring 
that large amount of power and experience, which 
it possesses, to bear on this subject, success would 
not only be certain, but speedy. 


43, Parliament Street, London. 
May 25th, 1857. 






























. , 


















. 











/ 






* • 


. 











































MECHANICAL SCIENCE 


AND 

jprf \t Spfm, 

IN 

RELATION TO AGRICULTURE. 


CHAPTER I. 

Brief Review of the Progress of Mechanical Science, 
as applied to Agriculture. 

Until within little more than a quarter of a century from 
the present time. Agriculture, in this country, was among 
the most backward of the industrial arts. When the great 
material resources of England, the extent of its commerce, 
and the genius and enterprising spirit of its people, are 
duly considered, this fact cannot fail to strike the observer 
as an anomaly difficidt to explain. The usual way of ac¬ 
counting for it is, that this most ancient of all the arts has 
ever been practised by men the most ancient in their no¬ 
tions, and the most lukewarm in the path of discovery. 
This is what others assent, and not what I would be sup¬ 
posed to sanction. An ardent friend of Agriculture, I am 
opposed to all prejudice being excited against the farmers, 
and desire to set this part of my subject in its clearest and 
fairest point of view. 

During the heats of party contention, many severe things 
have been alleged against “ the farmers, as a body.” This 
is one of those innocent phrases that may mean anything 
or nothing. Each member of “ the body” may conceive 

B 



10 Mechanical Science and the Prize System, 

that it has no allusion to him, and so pass it on to his 
neighbour, till, finding no owner, it vanishes into a thin 
air,” and leaves “ the body” as it found it! No doubts 
some of the assertions against farmers have been true of 
individuals,— 

ie Perch’d on the meagre produce of the land. 

An ell or two of prospect they command; 

But never peep beyond the thorny bound 
Or oaken fence that hems the homestead round.” 

Or such observations might, probably, have applied to par¬ 
ticular districts, but could not, with justice, be extended 
to the entire agricultural body, or to the cultivators of the 
broad acres of England, as a whole. And it is doubtful 
whether a disinclination to improvement now lingers any¬ 
where, save in some dark corner of the land, into which 
the light of science has not yet been able to penetrate. 

It would lead me too far away from the main object of 
this publication to criticise all that has been, in past times, 
charged against “ the farmers, as a body,” or to establish 
the fact of the rapid and almost universal advance of prac¬ 
tical agriculture, and of the march of mind among its 
practical men; and I, therefore, propose to glance at the 
rise and progress of what may be termed, by way of dis¬ 
tinction, the mechanical methods of improving the art of 
culture. 

There must always have existed an incentive to increase 
the facilities of good farming, and render fertile “the land 
we live on.” Thoughts of extensive bearing and of the 
highest import, however, cannot embody themselves in 
fact all at once. Prejudices and mistaken notions may 
have to be removed, by a longer or a shorter process; but 
this process can never be hastened by either ridicule or 
slander. Consequently, no good can come of charging 
the farmers with resistance to agricultural improve- 


in Relation to Agriculture. ' 11 

ment, when it is so manifestly to their own interest 
to embrace it. Those who have sufficient acquaints 
ance with the inhabitants of rural districts must be aware, 
that old-established opinions and practices are not to be 
removed from them quite so speedily as from those who 
live “ where merchants most do congregate.” Fontenelle 
asserts, that “ mankind only settle into the right course, 
after passing through and exhausting all the varieties of 
error.” Whatever exaggeration there may be in this, it 
may he safely stated, that it would not be possible for 
farmers, any more than for other men, suddenly to shake 
off old habits and associations, without calling forth 
agencies which would act adversely to freedom and to 
right. A change from wrong to right is not so easy to 
make as to desire, and to write or talk about. No class 
can be expected, in one of its most important concerns, to 
pass at once from listless indifference to restless activity. 
A long and often difficult apprenticeship has to be served, 
before its business can be learned. The law of progression 
must be observed in matters of this kind, as well as in the 
operations of nature. No deviation is permitted from the 
ordinary laws of Providence. An infant cannot step at 
once into manhood, nor can corn be expected to spring up 
and ripen in a day. Solon carried out the moral and 
political wisdom of framing his laws in accordance with the 
times and circumstances of the people for whom they were 
designed. He was once interrogated as to his laws being 
the best he could devise, and his answer was, “ I have given 
my countrymen the best laws they are capable of receiv¬ 
ing.” Like all great truths, this truth is simple enough; 
and, had it always received the consideration which is due 
to it, the world would have been saved a vast amount of 
turmoil and trouble. To impose upon men more than 
they are capable of receiving must ever be productive of 
the very reverse of what was intended. Social and poli¬ 
tical reformation, to be successful, must proceed by de¬ 
grees, so as to have time for consolidation, and opportu- 

b 2 


12 Mechanical Science and the Prize System, 

nity of winning converts, by an exhibition of its advan¬ 
tages, and not by being thrust upon men, before they are 
ripe for its appreciation and enjoyment. If the agricul¬ 
turists, like all other classes, have laboured under some 
peculiar disadvantages, there is no ground for supposing 
that, in natural intelligence, they are at all inferior to any 
other body of their countrymen : 

“Man is man in every station, 

The difference only—education.’' 

It is the law of man’s cultivated nature to prefer know r - 
ledge to ignorance, precisely as it is a corresponding law 
to prefer light to darkness. 

From their peculiarly secluded life, the generality of 
farmers may be said to inhabit the bye-paths and outfields 
of society; and they formerly had but few opportunities 
of general association. Some half-dozen of them occasion¬ 
ally met at the village inn or the town hotel, where, over 
the soothing influence of “a pipe and a glass,” they 
chatted of the movements on the farm, and their several 
experiences of this or that method of culture. They were 
not silent on their points of difference; but much useful 
information was given and received, by mutual interchange 
of opinions, in the way of friendly discussion. The timid 
w r ere encouraged by the enterprising, to substitute the then 
new mechanical for the old manual mode of cultivation; 
while the village blacksmiths and wheelwrights were, to 
prevent a falling off in their own trade, and to satisfy the 
new wants of their customers, necessitated to try their 
“ ’prentice hands” at improving the implements they were 
accustomed to make and repair, and to aim at copying 
some of the modern inventions of the larger manufac¬ 
turers. Whilst these causes were at work, for the im¬ 
provement of the farmers, the chief manufacturers of 
agricultural implements were not idle. Men, possessing 


13 


in Relation to Agriculture . 

mechanical genius and manufacturing facilities, had made 
it their business to bring those advantages to bear upon 
the production of more scientifically-constructed imple¬ 
ments, for the use of the farm; and, in 1835 , the principal 
kinds now in use had, in a form more or less perfect, been 
manufactured, locally, to a considerable extent, though the 
general adoption of them was, comparatively, very 
limited. 

The little gatherings of the farmers, to which allusion 
has just been made, had an excellent effect, in another 
point of view. The darkness of isolation that formerly 
surrounded them was thus rent asunder, by the sunshine 
of sociality and good feeling. This self-re formation went 
hand-in-hand with their interests, as well as with their 
feelings; and, under the influence which was exercised 
over them for their good, by those of more “mark and 
likelihood” of their own class, and the more liberal and 
enlightened of their landlords, organizations were effected 
for more systematic action, on the plan of our present 
Farmers’ Clubs. 

To say that these clubs, which commenced upon a small 
scale, and extended as circumstances permitted, have more 
than answered the most sanguine expectations of their 
founders, is only saying what almost every one knows. 
Their effects are admitted to be as beneficial as they will, 
no doubt, be lasting. 

All reference to the past is only of moment and value as 
it affords an argument for the future. In this case, the 
task is at once interesting and useful: useful, inasmuch as 
it conveys to us both instruction and encouragement, by 
proving how, from very small beginnings, by dint of 
energy and perseverance, on the part of those engaged in 
a good cause, most beneficial effects may be accomplished ; 
and interesting, as showing, by comparing the present 


14 Mechanical Science and the Prize System , 

clubs with similar ones, at their commencement, the evi¬ 
dence of the expansibility of the agricultural mind, and the 
progressive character of agricultural improvement. 

We have another evidence of this in what the wonder¬ 
working power of the Press has effected in the same 
direction. Accustomed to hardy exercise, the inclinations 
of the farmers cannot be said to be studious. How few of 
them, generally speaking, could formerly be said to be 
literary. How few of them had either time or inclination to 
read a mere scientific treatise on any branch of their pur¬ 
suits, and make themselves masters of its contents. Put the 
publication of newspapers and magazines, especially de¬ 
voted to agricultural topics, has wrought a change in this 
respect. The small seeds of knowledge of the events and 
facts immediately affecting themselves, and influencing 
their welfare, having been sown among them, sprung up 
in due time, and ripened into fruit; proving, in this in¬ 
stance alone, that much that was deemed inert in the 
farmer was referable to his isolated position,—to the pecu¬ 
liar elements and circumstances out of which his character 
had been formed,—and that his asserted “ backwardness” 
had no necessary permanence, but could be modified by 
the gradual progress of enlightenment around and about 
him. The newspaper press is a mighty engine, and has 
done wonders in extending a desire for agricultural im¬ 
provement amongst all those more immediately interested 
in the culture of the soil. Opinion, indeed, everywhere 
regulates practice, and has an important effect on the pro¬ 
gress of scientific knowledge. In this respect, the pub¬ 
lishers of those periodical publications, devoted to the in¬ 
terests of the farmer, have been to agriculture what the 
early adventurous merchants were to commerce. They 
circulated the products of thought and practical informa¬ 
tion in the best and most effectual manner, and so opened 
the minds of the people with whom they had dealings, to 
the conviction, that there was something worth embracing 


in Relation to Agriculture . 


15 


in the new sources of trade offered for their acceptance. 
The farmers, in fact, 

“ tf not the first by whom the new were tried. 

Were not the last to lay the old aside." 

Before the introduction of such newspapers and other agri¬ 
cultural publications., hardly any portion of the rural popu¬ 
lation knew what any other portion, as a class, was about, 
—what their soils, their crops, their returns, their prac¬ 
tices, or what their local reasons for the adoption of 
methods different from their own. These publications 
remedied all this. They could be read with little cost of 
money or of time. What is the circulation of a volume to 
that of a paragraph which runs the round of the Press ! 
The agricultural newspaper tempted the farmers to dip 
into its varied contents, and so lured them, as it were, into 
the path of study and reflection. It brought, week after 
week, some- new fact or some new idea to their notice 
connected with their own immediate pursuits, and thus 
added, by little and little, to their mental stores, until 
facts and ideas had accumulated to an extent for which 
the cause would have appeared, at first, totally inadequate. 
A volume containing the same amount of information 
would never have been opened. The influence of all the 
books ever written on agriculture, in point of fact, is but 
as a feather in the scale, compared with that of the agri¬ 
cultural newspaper, as a means of carrying knowledge into 
the nooks and corners of the agricultural districts. Its 
advertising columns, too, drew their attention to the inge¬ 
nuity of the mechanic, who constructed various imple¬ 
ments to subdue refractory nature, and make the stubborn 
earth bend herself to fulfil the wishes of ingenious man. 
Instruments of various forms for facilitating the tillage of 
the land, and various new devices, by which human labour 
could be dispensed with, in the production of desirable 
commodities, were delineated and explained. There were 


16 Mechanical Science and the Prize System , 

“pressers,” for open soils, “ clod-crushers,” for stiff clays, 
and “ grubbers” or “ extirpators,” to tear out the weeds 
that stifled the good seed, and machines for otherwise 
cleaning the land, and encouraging the growing crops. 

There were also, in progress of events, drilling and sow¬ 
ing machines, in every required variety, for depositing 
seeds in rows, or patches, or broadcast, as well as manures, 
either liquid, moist, or dry; together with portable and 
fixed steam-engines. Then came thrashing machines, 
which performed all the operations, simultaneously, of 
thrashing, shaking, riddling, winnowing, weighing, and 
putting nicely-prepared samples into sacks for market,—an 
immense improvement on those which formerly thrashed 
out the corn only ! 

These facts are significant of the numerous means now 
brought to bear on farming affairs, and the vast import¬ 
ance which the farmers now attach to providing them¬ 
selves with a stock of good and useful implements. The 
most important of the old relations of agriculture have 
been changed, and that by a process which, although com¬ 
paratively rapid, has been sufficiently gradual to bring the 
event upon the farmers, so as to allow for their making 
due provision for the change. If anything is indicative of 
agricultural progress, it is the extensive manufacture of 
these agricultural appliances,—so extensive, indeed, as to 
form a distinct and important branch of national industry. 
There are now some hundreds of establishments, scattered 
over the country, carried on with an enormous capital, and 
whose many thousands of occupants are daily employed in 
meeting the large requirements of those whose interest it 
is to go on increasing the productiveness of the soil. 

Every thing, indeed, connected with farming is so ad¬ 
vanced, within the past few years, that the soul of im¬ 
provement may be said to have entered the agricultural 


17 


in Relation to Agriculture . 

body. Action lias solved doubts, by destroying them. A 
taste is now abroad amongst farmers generally to excel in 
tlieir pursuits. They are fully alive to the facts, that 
capital sunk in the earth is sure to rise again, with a large 
interest, and that perseverance is the well-spring from 
which flows success. All this has acted and re-acted in a 
manner the most beneficial to themselves, as well as to the 
community at large; and it may be doubted, whether the 
inventive power of man could have rendered a greater ser¬ 
vice than in producing incitements to the mental and 
physical activity of the tillers of the soil. Whatever en¬ 
courages that activity, whatever accustoms men to acquire 
a higher standard of excellence in their business or profes¬ 
sion, affords, in itself, the means of satisfying the new' 
wants which it engenders. 

In this brief retrospect of the principal events which 
have, more directly, led to this gratifying change, I must 
not fail to notice that most remarkable event of this, or, 
indeed, of any other, age,—the rapid transport of goods 
and passengers by steam on railways. This was not the 
every-day work of every-day minds. It was no common¬ 
place event. It gave a new impetus to old habits, and 
brought home to the farmers, amongst others, a practical 
consciousness of living in an age of wonderful events. 
The new mode of locomotion destroyed the force of the 
instinctive objection to new courses, except in those whose 
interests were affected in an adverse manner. But even 
these it soon reconciled to their lot, when they found them¬ 
selves gainers, to a greater extent, than losers, by the 
mighty change. Individual losses speedily disappeared 
beneath the swelling tide of the general good. The exten¬ 
sive svstem of internal communication which railways 
•/ 

established has cost no less a sum than three hundred 
millions of money, and the effects of this enormous outlay 
are seen, more or less, in every part of England. The 
momentous consequences of this mighty system to the 


18 Mechanical Science and the Prize System, 

manufacturing and trading interests of the country, over¬ 
flowing, as it does, with capital, and distinguished, as it is, 
for the energy and enterprise of its commercial men, are 
so apparent, that “ he who runs may read but, looking at 
railways as more directly affecting the habits, wants, and 
wishes of agriculturists, there is enough to warrant the 
statement, that they have conferred on the farmers an 
amount of benefit of which they cannot be too sensible. 
The colossal magnitude of such a mode of transit, which, 
with the electric telegraph, almost annihilates time and 
space, by bringing the opposite extremities of the land, as 
it were, into contact with each other, enables a farmer, 
a hundred miles from Mark-lane, to communicate with it 
more easily than he used to do with his own county town, 
and gives him the means of transporting his produce to, 
and supplying his wants from, distant places, with as much 
ease, promptitude, and cheapness, as weighty goods could 
be formerly carted to the nearest market or seaport. It 
would be difficult to fix the limit or measure the benefits 
of such facilities of transport. When heavy materials can 
be conveyed from great distances, at little cost, there is 
done for those necessary aids to culture, for which no light 
substitute can be obtained, what the discovery of light 
manures did for the special manuring of the soil. And 
the introduction of these manures, by increasing the cul¬ 
tivation of root-crops, extended the sale of the drill and the 
horse-hoe, and created a demand for a class of implements 
essentially necessary to assist the manures in developing 
their fertilizing properties. The farmer who used pur¬ 
chased manures could not afford to grow weeds, or risk the 
loss of a favorable sowing season, by depending on mere 
manual labour. The materials of drainage, the exchange 
of soils, and the new implements of husbandry, for instance, 
to say nothing of coals for the domestic use of the farmer, 
cannot be lightened, nor can less bulky substances be 

V 

found -for them; but quicken and cheapen their transport, 
and the same thing, in effect, is done. Without railways. 


in Relation to Agriculture . 19 

it is quite certain, that the annual exhibition of agricul¬ 
tural implements, at the Royal Agricultural Society's 
meetings, would have been confined to a merely local 
character, and much of their present interest, influence, 
and profitable pecuniary results, would have been, conse¬ 
quently, lost. 

* • . 

All this is of great moment to the farmer; but the 
money benefit of railways to him is far from being the 
only one. Wherever the railway whistle is heard, there 
is progress: it awakens the most sluggish to the fact, that 
reform is on the march, and they who stand in its way 
are in danger of being crushed under its ponderous and 
rapid wheels. The whole result of railways is, in short, 
not acquiescence in old habits, but that stir and ferment 
which are essential to improvement. The natural effects 
which they have produced upon the social relations of 
different centres of population in rural districts, by aug¬ 
menting the personal communication between them, are 
not the least memorable of their consequences. Farmers 
are no longer wholly engrossed with the practical, every¬ 
day business of the farm. The railway system renders 
social intercourse between them so simple and easy, that 
they are now as ready as any other class to take advantage 
of .it, thus adding another link to the chain of kindly 
feelings which should bind man to man. However true 
it may be, that individual mental capacity is capable of 
enlargement by any process of culture, it is equally so, 
that the extent to which that capacity may develop itself 
is determined by the proximity to it of minds which 
arouse its energies by the sympathy of kindred tastes. 
In this respect, the intercourse to which I allude has 
been oue of the most efficient means of bringing about 
that improved state of things which is now visible in 
almost every homestead. It has introduced discussions 
on topics necessarily interesting to farmers, and excited 
that energy so natural to new inquirers; thus exemplify- 


20 Mechanical Science and the Prize System, 

ing the fact, that intelligence and enterprise are not less 
the strong characteristics of English farmers than of any 
other class of their countrymen. There is no need of 
argument to prove this, as every day's experience brings 
it home to the conviction,—especially to the conviction of 
those whose dealings with the farmers render them the 
most competent judges. 

The same year that introduced railways, saw the estab¬ 
lishment of the Royal Agricultural Society of England. 
Supported by a large proportion of the nobility and 
gentry, as w r ell as of the genius and wealth of the country, 
the influence of this Society has been, and no doubt is, 
immense in advancing whatever it considered an improve¬ 
ment in the management of the farm, whether in the 
rearing of stock, the application of manures to the land, 
or in the invention and improvement of the implements 
of husbandry. No one acquainted with its proceedings 
will deny, that it has effected much good in all these 
matters. Its organization, as a national institution, would 
naturally give it great weight amongst farmers. The 
congregated form of action is the life, indeed, of all active 
operations, and when exerted on a large scale, as in this 
instance, it could not fail to show its vast superiority 
over the attempts of any scattered and disjointed forces. 

This remark is not intended to disparage the influence 
of local societies of a similar nature, which have sprung 
up in almost every populous district, as all such institu¬ 
tions are highly beneficial, when directed to their proper 
object. The discussions elicited by agricultural gatherings 
of this kind always excite a salutary degree of emulation, 
which cannot operate otherwise than beneficially. But 
what is desired to be conveyed, by alluding to the supe¬ 
riority of numbers in one united phalanx, is, that, if all 
the local societies were to acknowledge the Royal Agri¬ 
cultural Society as their head,—the pivot around which all 


21 


in Relation to Agriculture. 

inventions and improvements in agriculture should revolve, 
—and so work together in harmony, a great pressure 
might be brought to bear on a given point, which would 
dispel and overcome the peculiar crotchets of those 

“ Who talk of principles, but notions prize. 

And all to one loved folly sacrifice.” 

A rightly formed and properly conducted union of the 
kind would be beneficial both to the farmers and the 
implement makers. And where, then, would be the 
objection to it ? 

If the societies in question were to yield a willing 
acquiescence to the direction of one guiding head, they 
would be doing only what an army does in battle. They 
would derive a large amount of advantage for themselves, 
through the very ascendancy which they sanctioned. 
They would but yield a privilege which would be subser¬ 
vient to their own interests, just as the disciplined 
obedience of the soldier pays homage to the more expe¬ 
rienced skill of his general, and relies upon him for 
protection in the hour of danger. The Royal Agricultural 
Society has, generally speaking, proved itself highly 
useful in the development and propagation of great 
agricultural truths and discoveries; and if it could add to 
its power by the union here suggested, it would exert a 
mighty energy in the agricultural world, which it would 
fill with its seen and hidden influence. In moments of 
general enthusiasm, it is enough that a society carries the 
favourite banner; but, in the intervals between those 
moments, its importance depends upon the confidence 
inspired by the judiciousness and wisdom of its pro¬ 
ceedings. 

Amongst their other functions, most of the agricultural 
societies of the kingdom follow out the scheme which it 


22 Mechanical Science and the Prize System , 

is my immediate object to examine. Keeping the Prize 

System in view, then, as immediately connected with the. 

invention and improvement of agricultural implements, 

the reader’s attention will now be directed to the two 

great and positive rivalries connected with it, its advantages 

and disadvantages, as entwining with them most of the 

threads which it is necessarv to unravel. 

«/ 


in Relation to Agriculture. 


23 


CHAPTER II. 

The Prize System advantageous in the Infancy of 

any Art or Science. 

That the system of offering prizes by the agricultural 
societies was, originally, adopted with the very best of 
motives, there cannot be a doubt. So long as any Art or 
Science is in its infancy, it especially requires this kind of 
fostering. Whoever desires to mount the hill of fame, 
must, doubtless, prepare himself for the task, under any 
circumstances; but inducements to proceed along, what 
is often a rugged path, must be more or less useful, so 
long as there is an absolute necessity for stimulating 
inventors into vigorous action. 

Prizes may be said to be useful, so long as they enable 
science to test an assumed improvement by something 
more than the arguments adduced, in a controversial 
spirit, for or against it. A system which pushes a science 
forward to a given point may, however, become impolitic 
after that point has been gained. The absurdity of con¬ 
tinuing the same discipline with an adult as with a child, 
is manifest, but it is equally absurd to treat an established 
science on the principles applicable to one just struggling 
into existence. For instance: Before astronomical science 
and the art of navigation attained their present accuracy, 
and a voyage across the ocean was attended with uncer¬ 
tainty, if not with danger, the discovery of the best means 
of finding the longitude was a very great desideratum; 
and the government of Queen Anne acted with a liberality 


24 Mechanical Science and the Prize System, 

worthy of a great naval power, in offering a reward for 
the best method of determining the longitude of a given 
place, with the greatest accuracy. The reward acted as a 
powerful incentive, and the result w r as to make the 
ocean-pathway as clearly defined as a turnpike road; and 
our ships now sail out, and return home, with as much 
exactitude as if there were finger-posts erected at every 
geographical degree along the surface of the ocean ! 

There was wisdom in thus offering a reward to secure 
such a desirable object, in the comparative infancy of 
scientific sailing; but a government would act just as 
smwisely, if it kept up a state of feverish anxiety to dis¬ 
cover some other and newer , and, perhaps, less simple, 
method of ascertaining the longitude at sea. 

Again: Large rewards were offered for the discovery 
of the north-west passage across the continent of North 
America. Expeditions, from time to time, were fitted 
out, urged on by the hope of the reward,— the golden 
lure. Time, property, and even life, were sacrificed to the 
discovery, which was, at last, made; and then, after all, 
the passage was found to be unavailable as a means of 
communicating with the Pacific Ocean. The government 
will offer no further reward, inasmuch as the object is not 
worth attaining; and it has recently felt called upon to 
put its veto on any further attempt to risk property and 
life in the inhospitable region, through which it was hoped 
our merchandise and commerce might be successfully 
transported. 

In a similar manner, recurring to the invention and 
improvement of agricultural implements, when one has 
been tried, and found to be really useful, prudence would 
plead for its immediate adoption, as it would for the 
instant rejection of another which, on trial, should be 
found not to answer the purpose for which it was designed. 
By offering prizes to the successful competitors in this 
branch of mechanical science, it was thought that a 
useful spirit of emulation would be excited amongst them, 


in Relation to Agriculture. 25 

and superior excellence be the result. Unquestionably, 
such inducements have called forth a vast amount 
of improvement in the old methods of ploughing, 
cleaning, draining, and sowing the land, and, to a great 
extent, have fostered and developed many an infantile 
invention into robust manhood. It may be said, as it 
has been said, that science ought to be cultivated for its 
own sake,—that the pleasure of its acquisition is its own 
sufficient reward. Doubtless, as a mean to an end, 
science has nobler objects in view than the bare accumu¬ 
lation of money. It is the main instrument of civilization, 
the conqueror of geographical distinctions, the subduer 
of national prejudices, and the benefactor of the whole 
human family. The simple fact is, that the love of fame 
is as natural to the human heart as is the love of gam. 
The desire of distinguishing ourselves, and the desire of 
benefiting ourselves, jointly excite that spirit of emula¬ 
tion which has been so productive of good in the world. 
Who, for example, follows trade or commerce, or profes¬ 
sional employment, but as means to an end ? The surgeon 
does not practise for the mere sake of practising; the 
tradesman does not stand behind his counter with the 
sole motive of accommodating his customers; nor, to 
come to the point, does the manufacturer of agricultural 
implements w r ork for the mere pleasure of contemplating 
his warehouse crammed with the labours of his workmen. 
Without wishing to deny that there are considerations of 
a less sordid nature than mere pecuniary gain, which 
prompt to competition, and that a legitimate regard to 
professional honour is a powerful motive, one thing is 
quite clear, that reward is the beacon that mainly directs 
the steps of all. Those peculiar beings, termed “ singular 
geniuses,” may be, from their very singularity, inclined 
to treat, what calls forth the ardent zeal of others, as 
mere matters of course,—as their own common road of 
action: they feel so strongly, and see so clearly, all that 
is necessary to attain the result they have in view, that 


c 


V- “ 

26 Mechanical Science and the Prize System, 

they do not need any stimnlus to exertion, and may really 
have difficulty in understanding why people make such & 
fuss about what, to them, seems such a trifle: 

“ They, like to scatter’d seed, at random sown, 

Wish to spring up by vigour of their own.” 

Doing their best, simply to please themselves, they may 
not, without difficulty, endure to be called up and placed 
in the midst of their fellow-men, to be petted and praised. 
Others, again, termed “ truly great souls,” because of the 
vastness of their mental powers and their natural diffidence, 
often absolutely require commentators and critics, to set 
before the public the valuable nature of their inventions 
or improvements. Many a time and oft, in days gone by, 
when these commentators and critics have not been at 
hand, the eulogy and the reward due to the highest order 
of merit have been wanted, and its possessors suffered— 

“ To drop into the grave, unhonour’d and unknown.” 

The design of encouraging improvements in agricultural 
implements, by the periodical offer of prizes, was both 
benevolent and beneficial. It not only brought manu¬ 
facturers into competition with each other, but induced 
the farmers to attend the annual shows from every part 
of the kingdom. These were some of the means of intro¬ 
ducing a better and more numerous selection of such 
instruments amongst the farmers generally. It was not 
enough to stimulate mechanical genius to produce; but, 
more important still, it was necessary to educate agricul¬ 
turists to appreciate and to use such productions. And it 
is worthy of remark here, that, at the advent of the Prize 
System, very few of the cultivators of the soil knew the 
full value of the mechanical arts, when applied to the land, 
and still fewer had even a dim foresight of what has since 
taken place regarding their vast importance. Many, 


27 


in Relation to Agriculture. 

indeed, made no secret of their unbelief as to mechanical 
science being able to conquer the stubbornness of nature, 
and could hardly be brought to leave their homes to wit¬ 
ness effects, which have, since, been so largely developed, 
and so universally acknowledged. The great change that 
has been produced in this respect, the electrical shock 
which the agricultural mind has received by the compara¬ 
tively recent triumphs of the science in question, are due, 
in some measure, to the distribution of prizes, and the 
various other encouragements held out for the improve¬ 
ment of the farm. 

The annual exhibitions of the Royal and other Agricul¬ 
tural Societies have always been instructive sights. They 
presented most favourable opportunities for detecting what 
was wrong, and for encouraging what was right,—for com¬ 
paring the products of various makers, and observing those 
several points of difference which commended themselves 
to the judgment, or received condemnation, according to 
their utility, or to the taste or experience of those whose 
duty it was to praise or to condemn. These shows con¬ 
veyed enlarged ideas of the actual condition of the art, for 
the furtherance of which they were designed. 

Though, in 1835, most of the standard agricultural 
implements had been invented, and were manufactured to 
a considerable extent, the first exhibition of the kind took 
place at Oxford, in 1839, when not more than five or six 
makers submitted their productions to public criticism. 
These makers, however, were then men of well-known 
enterprise, and had established for themselves reputations 

beyond the limits of their immediate localities. Such, 

• T 

however, has been the rapid march of events, that it is now 
no uncommon thing to witness the implements of as many 
as a hundred and fifty different makers on the annual 
arena ! This extraordinary activity is to be accounted for 
on various grounds. While, on the one hand, men take 

c 2 


28 Mechanical Science and the Prize System, 

alarm, lest the lucky invention of another should ruin their 
own trade, others entertain the most sanguine expectations 
as to the substantial gains and honourable fame which 
may accrue to them from one successful device. The 
activity of the manufacturers, from these and other stimu¬ 
lants, emanating from the Prize System, has been urged to 
a sort of race, of a steeple-cliase character ! Increasing in 
intensity as the obstacles of opposition presented them¬ 
selves, the excitement has grown by what it fed upon, 
until, at last, so many and such various improvements and 
alterations in implements, together with numerous refine¬ 
ments of questionable value, have been produced, that it 
has become a serious question amongst practical men, 
whether a little breath ought not to be drawn, before pro¬ 
ceeding further in the recent headlong course. 

* 

To a full consideration of this question, the next chapter 
will be devoted. 


in Relation to Agriculture. 


29 


CHAPTER III. 

The Disadvantages of the Prize System, as now 
Practised by Agricultural Societies. 

It lias been too often insisted upon, by philosophers as 
well as by moralists, to make much elucidation of the po¬ 
sition necessary here, that every virtue has its kindred 
vice, and that, between the termination of one and the 
commencement of the other, the line of partition is ex¬ 
tremely fine. The stimulants of the Prize System, like all 
other kind of stimulants, may be taken to excess, and so 
create positive injury, where the original intention was 
only to benefit: 

u Hourly allurements on the passions press, 

Safe in themselves, hut dangerous in the excess.” 

It is notorious that it has encouraged, at times, an. 
almost unbounded degree of competition, and prevented 
that kind of stability, which is as essential, when real ex¬ 
cellence is attained, as freedom of' examination is before 
the removal of error. A favourable report of the success 
of one invention operated as a sort of “hue and cry,” 
amongst agricultural implement makers, followed by a 
sharp attack of the inventive powers, and inoculated many 
a mechanical genius with the idea, that it was incumbent 
on him, thenceforward, to have, at least, one (so called) 
“ improved” implement, at every exhibition of any mark 
or likelihood. 

One result of this " prize-competition run mad” has 


30 Mechanical Science and the Prize System , 


been, tliat multiplied proofs of an ornamental, rather than a 
useful, proficiency continuall}" met the eye of the judges at 
the annual exhibitions, until the Royal Agricultural So¬ 
ciety became so deluged with alterations , miscalled (t im¬ 
provements,” and so sensible of the evils of novelty of de¬ 
sign and precipitancy of execution, that, in the exercise of a 
sound judgment and a strong w r ill, it at once reduced the 
amount of its annual prizes two-tliirds, by this means seek¬ 
ing to curb the competition it had evoked. The society 
aroused itself to the fact, that all good things may be abused, 
and that its former profuse offer of prizes had become most 
injurious to the cause it desired to serve, by frittering away 
upon unfruitful novelties the means that ought to be ap¬ 
plied to productive utility; thus sinking in the abyss of 
nothingness that energy of thought and that action of 
labour which are the most valuable of all the various kinds 
of capital. The smallest item expended for a purpose, be¬ 
yond that required to reach the point of positive utility, is 
so much labour abstracted from efforts to promote the 
benefits it is calculated to confer. There is a simplicity in 
this fact which every one can understand and appreciate 
for himself, and which must commend itself even to those 
most wedded to the Prize System. 

It is well known that this system had, originally, a 
double end in view: it had to reward ingenuity, and, at the 
same time, serve a useful purpose, by facilitating the culti¬ 
vation of the soil. The manufacturers, perfectly a-ware of 
this, shaped all their inventions to serve this end. They 

V 

had no chance of obtaining custom otherwise. The de¬ 
mand had to be created amongst the farmers, without 
which neither this nor any other pursuit, connected with 
agriculture, could be successfully or profitably carried on. 
Making themselves thoroughly acquainted with the neces¬ 
sities of the farmers, the manufacturers, with their accus¬ 
tomed penetration and zeal, did their best to supply them. 
The industrial progress of the farmers, indeed, is mainly 


31 


in Relation to Agriculture . 

due, not so much, perhaps, to inventive genius as to a quick 
perception of the 'practical uses to which an invention 
might be applied. No men understood this better than 
the manufacturers of agricultural implements; and they, 
consequently, exhibited a watchful readiness to seize every 
means of economising cost, time, and labour, which were 
the ends sought by the agriculturists, by producing instru¬ 
ments of the most serviceable and durable kind. 

But now. and for some time past, “ a change has come 
o’er the spirit of their dream.” They have been com¬ 
pelled, as it were, partly to turn from their original course, 
—necessitated, in fact, by the working of the Prize Sys¬ 
tem, to purchase applause from one party, at the sacrifice 
of the utilitv due to another. This is to be lamented, no 
less for their own sakes than for the sake of their best cus¬ 
tomers ; for of what real good is it to augment the toil of 
the inventor, to torment the mechanical powers of the 
manufacturers, leading them to overlay what is sound by 
the fantastical, and substituting for the useful the empi¬ 
rical design of “ something new,” if this main object is not 
advanced ? Every such design is a sort of Juno, dazzling 
the eye with novel beauty, but fading to a cloud directly 
Utility would embrace it! It must be obvious that money 
so spent is worse than wasted : it does harm, instead of 
good. 

Nor has all been said, when this has been said. De¬ 
scending from merely general remarks to an examination 
of particulars, let this point be submitted to the touchstone 
of truth. All machinery has its broad and ready points, 
and some of it is not at all difficult to test; but it is a well- 
known fact amongst those most likely to read these pages, 
that many a “ prize machine” has been as costly to its 
projector as, comparatively speaking, it was worthless to 
those for whose use it was expressly designed. This obser¬ 
vation must be understood as excluding from its reference 


32 Mechanical Science and the Prize System , 

all those simpler kinds of instruments which can easily be 
distinguished from the more complicated specimens of the 
art. It has fallen within my own knowledge, that, when 
a farmer desires to purchase one of these complicated and 
showy prize machines, to which allusion is here made, for 
the purpose of testing its asserted rare qualities, he is dis¬ 
suaded from his purpose by the very maker of it himself, 
who knows that its highly-wrought parts were made to 
win the prize, and not intended to stand the rough wear 
and tear of ordinary farm-work. 

Implements of novel construction, that act well in one 
season and on a particular soil, may be found defective in 
another, owing to differences in the crops and soils to be 
operated upon. This further shows the fallacy of the Prize 
System, by urging forward assumed improved implements, 
before sufficient time be allowed to apply the proper tests. 

This error is well commented on by the Judges ap¬ 
pointed at the Gloucester meeting, in 1853, in the follow¬ 
ing extract from their Report on the Trial of Steam 
Engines: 


“ As we have before stated, in making the foregoing awards, 
we felt that the objects of the Society were not secured ; viz., to 
obtain engines composed of the least possible number of work¬ 
ing parts, sufficient to produce the best practical results as to 
power and economy, both in consumption of fuel and repairs. 

“ As such engines are intended to be placed in the hands of 
those who hitherto have had little or no experience, either in 
their management or repairs, it must be of the utmost import¬ 
ance that they should require as little attention as possible. 
*We find that manufacturers have given their whole attention 
to one point only, viz., a low consumption of fuel, which has evi¬ 
dently been encouraged by the principle upon which the tests have 
been applied and the prizes awarded. This has introduced great 
complication of parts, and entirely set aside the main objects re¬ 
quired ; that is, simplicity and utility. This is freely admitted 


33 


in Relation to Agriculture. 

by the manufacturers themselves, and, in some cases, two classes 
of engines were exhibited; viz., the racer to compete for the So¬ 
ciety's prize, and the working or commercial engine. 

“ "We, therefore, beg strongly to recommend, for the consi¬ 
deration of the Council, that, in future exhibitions, the supe¬ 
riority of one engine over another should be considered with 
regard to their simplicity of arrangement, each part being well 
proportioned and easy of access and repair, combined with 
steady and economical working and weight, and, of course, 
price. 

“ Should this be carried out, we have no hesitation in believ¬ 
ing that very great benefit will be secured to the agriculturist. 

“ Wm. Oweh, 

“ Jno. Y. Gooch, 

“ Judges of Implements, appointed by the Council.” 

Mr. W. F. Hobbs, in his “ Report on the Exhibition 
and Trial of Implements at the Carlisle Meeting, 1855,” 
thus alludes to the same subject: 

tc The conditions of competition laid down by the Society, for 
portable steam engines, have, unfortunately, led to the produc¬ 
tion of engines only intended for winning the Society’s prizes, 
and known as ‘ racing’ engines, requiring the nicest care, in¬ 
stead of those simple and effective engines which may be safely 
entrusted to the management of intelligent farm servants.” 

These are very significant extracts, and the reader is 
entreated to bear them well in mind. 

That exquisite perfection of the various parts of a 
machine is not always consistent with its proficiency, when 
applied to the rough work of tillage, is a fact well known 
to practical men. A farmer, to -wit, if he wanted a plough, 
would not think of buying one with the share of the polish 
and edge of a razor. When all principles for constructing 
a certain machine are settled, the comparative superiority 
of different makers depends upon a variety of details of 


34 Mechanical Science and the Prize System , 

execution, and especially on degrees of durability, and 
capability of executing work, without repair; and these 
qualities could never be accurately judged by trial in a 
single competitive race. If, therefore, a farmer is “ taken” 
with an implement made for show, and is determined, at 
all risks, to try its metal, as is sometimes the case, he must 
not be surprised to find it as unsubstantial and delusive as 
those fruits of Eastern fable, which were so attractive to 
the eye, but which turned into ashes on the palate. The 
consciousness of the unfitness of the thing for its purpose, 
thus brought home to conviction, soon destroys the plea¬ 
sure derived from its beauty. “ To do good work in the 
field,” says J. E. Denison, Esq., “you must have strong 
and well-constructed implements. The value of solidity 
and strength is fully recognized in the implements akin to 
the ploughs, drags, scarifiers, and broadshares, by which 
so much of the labour on the best-cultivated farms is now 
effected.”* When prize machines do not answer this 
description, the inventor may run away with the laurel, but 
who reaps the advantage? Nay, may not a mishap of this 
kind be productive of a positive disadvantage ? If a doubt¬ 
ing farmer were tempted to try an instrument of the kind 
alluded to, by way of experiment, how would he be likely 
to bear his disappointment? Would it not confirm his pre¬ 
vious suspicion, and possibly deter him from ever trying 
any similar machine again ? Besides this, not only would 
the prejudiced farmer have his prejudices strengthened, 
but the whole district in which he resided would have their 
faith shaken by this failure of a prize machine. If a single 
implement successfully at work in the field has more effect, 
in its general introduction, in a rural district, than volumes 
of essays, or the most costly of prize medals, what a draw¬ 
back and a disadvantage to the Prize System it is, to have 
a direct censure passed on the judges who awarded a prize 


* Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society, Yol. XVII., p. 41 . 


in Relation to Agriculture. 35 

for the production of an implement which would not stand 
the test of continued use ! 

Against such kind of mishaps, no human prudence, it 
may be said, could have provided; but, if simplicity in 
construction, and practical utility in application, combined 
with fitting materials, were the objects sought to be 
attained, the risks of failure and accident would be very 
much diminished. As the triumph of mechanical skill 
consists in compelling the reluctant earth to yield to in¬ 
structed industry, what it naturally refuses to produce, 
without it, all instruments exhibited for prizes ought to be 
made with this sole object in view. Why, then, continue 
to stimulate production of an opposite character? Why 
encourage these inordinate longings after something too 
visionary to be tangible, too elaborate to be practical? 
Why not take warning by the well-known aphorism, that 
c: Nothing planted can flourish, while you are perpetually 
disturbing the earth around its roots ?” 

But here I may be met, as, doubtless, T shall be met, 
with a counter question or two; such as, Who is to limit 
the inventive powers of man? If absolute perfection is 
unattainable, why should further approach to it be checked? 
In the struggle for improvement, who can tell what future 
victories are in store? Why, then, interfere with the 
combatants ? 

There is, in this free and enlightened country, an almost 
insurmountable repugnance to the least supposed check 
being given to the march of invention in any art or science. 
The general tendency of Englishmen is not to rally round 
a positive standard of excellence, but to encourage any and 
every kind of competition, lest, in shutting out the bad, 
the birth of the good should be prevented. The full anti¬ 
cipation of what the future is to effect is rarely realized. 
The general faith in science, as a worker of wonders, is 


36 Mechanical Science and the Prize System, 

almost unlimited, and, whatever the improvement, a fur¬ 
ther practical application of it is expected. The scientific 
discoveries of modern times have effected so vast a revolu¬ 
tion in all that relates to the comfort and conveniences of 
man, that it is difficult to form an idea of all that may be 
expected from them,—what their future aims, and where 
their final resting places. And truly, when it is considered 
what has been effected, it is not very surprising that, after 
an invention has proved its worth in one particular, credit 
should be given to it for possessing a hundred other quali¬ 
ties yet to be discovered : 

“ No wild enthusiast ever yet could rest, 

Till half mankind were, like himself, possess’d !” 

The expectation shadowed forth in this remark is extra¬ 
vagant,—-too much so, indeed; for, although popular ex¬ 
citement is a necessary condition to the success of some 
undertakings, it defeats its own purpose, when carried to 
excess. It would be well, therefore, if the public were to 
moderate its expectations in these respects, and descend 
from the stilts of imagination to the ground of moderation 
and reason. There is a fallacy in the presumption, that 
whatever is last discovered is best, and that whatever re¬ 
tards an onward progress is a baleful hindrance. It is for¬ 
gotten that we may “ rush on” even unto perdition, and 
that “ progress” may be made in the “ Road to Ruin,” as 
well as in the road to reform ! This is written without 
any desire, as there is no occasion, to check that active 
spirit of enterprise by which many useful men are guided. 
If I am misunderstood here, it shall not be my fault. I 
yield to no one in a desire to see improvements of all kinds 
spread their blessings far and wide. But, while agreeing 
so far with agricultural reformers, it seems to me that the 
advocates of the existing Prize System are looking in the 
wrong quarter for what they seek. The essential require¬ 
ments of progress do not embrace the delirium of compe- 


in Relation to Agriculture, 3 7 

tition, which that system engenders. There is a vast differ¬ 
ence between advocating a healthy system of encourage¬ 
ment to genius, and that fatal kind which creates a morbid 
spirit of action, an unnatural stimulus, the atmosphere of 
which destroys so much thought, and intoxicates the rest. 
These are the results to be avoided. Those who have 
studied the question know, that competition, under the 
restraining influence of discretion, is guided into the prac¬ 
tical medium, which, instead of chaining up the spirit of 
improvement, gives light to its path, and guides its foot¬ 
steps in safety. Without the common mode of offering 
prizes, the workshops of our agricultural implement makers 
afford ample scope still for zealous and prolonged exertion, 
and a promise of reward sufficient to stimulate the labours 
of the improver, for many years to come. 

None have more reason to complain of the Prize System 
than the manufacturers themselves. It positively keeps 
them in a constant fret. They are obliged, very fre¬ 
quently, to pander to a restless desire for something new, 
to make alterations in their instruments, from the necessi¬ 
ties which that desire brings in its train, rather than from 
the perception of any artistic advantages guiding genius. 
The impetus of mind as well as of matter is weakened by 
every deflecting force. Hence our mental powers operate 
with their utmost strength, when acting in their natural 
direction. Caprice and perverseness will, sometimes, ob¬ 
tain for their possessor a brief admiration, as there will 
always be men interested in applauding the obliquities of 
genius, and who are happy to be countenanced by such 
high authority as the Royal Agricultural Society of Eng¬ 
land. A manufacturer, having gained prizes for a parti¬ 
cular quality of tool or machine, finds it absolutely neces¬ 
sary to try again and again, and set up “ something new,” 
at all hazards, 

“ Wearing out life in his artistic whim, 

Till his artistic whimsy wears out him ! 


38 Mechanical Science and the Prize System , 

Many a one has deprived himself, if he is not now de¬ 
priving himself, of the repose and independence of thought, 
amidst which he might become aware of his own particular 
tendencies, and nourish his weaker powers into an equality 
with the stronger, instead of frittering away his mechanical 
genius into fragments, led on by the ignis fatnus of the 
Prize System. Others, again, unable to obtain distinction 
in the legitimate path of improvement, strike out fantas¬ 
tical changes in this or that implement, without at all 
adding to its effective qualities; but, the new folly being 
warmed into life in the hot-bed of the Prize Svstem, their 
delight and vanity know no bounds, and, like the conceited 
schoolboy, they exclaim, “ You think my last copy capital, 
do you ? Ah ! but that's not my best V 3 Thus the whole 
thing swells into pure extravagance, and 

“Thus meu go wrong, with an ingenious skill, 

Bend the straight rule to their own crooked will ; 

And, with a clear and shining lamp supplied, 

First put it out, then take it for a guide.” 


This is not only a great evil in itself, but the source of 
many other evils. The old standard of the greatest sim¬ 
plicity, with the greatest utility, is necessarily overlooked. 
What wonder, then, that some of the new points are 
pointless?—that want of steadiness in conception, and 
clearness of design, should be attended by defective 
utility ? 

It would be well, perhaps, to let the manufacturers 
speak for themselves, on this subject; and I gladly avail 
myself of this opportunity of publishing their Memorial 
to the Royal Agricultural Society, last year. It is as fol¬ 
lows : 


“ We, the undersigned Engineers and Manufacturers of Agri¬ 
cultural Implements, and Exhibitors at the annual meetings of 


39 


in Relation to Agriculture. 

your Society, desire to submit to your consideration our views 
on the question of the present system of offering individual 
money-prizes for competition amongst the makers. 

“ We object to this system, on the ground that it operates 
as an undue stimulus to competition, tending less to the pro¬ 
duction of useful and practical machines than to the develop¬ 
ment of ingenious peculiarities, by which, with the aid of 
highly-skilled manipulation, the prizes may be won; but more 
especially is our objection taken on the ground of the unfair¬ 
ness of its operation. This is evidenced in the effect it has of 
marking, in a manner altogether disproportionate to the cir¬ 
cumstances, the appreciation of one to the depreciation of all 
othek competitors; although, as very frequently occurs, the 
merits of several may fairly be considered to be equal. 

“ We are desirous to express our entire satisfaction with the 
resolution of the Council, at its meeting, in December, for 
dividing the trials of Implements into three sections, so as that 
each section may be tested triennially. This will greatly relieve 
the labours of exhibitors, and, at the same time, afford opportu¬ 
nity for more deliberate judgment. 

“We have no wish to lessen the severity of the tests by the 
instruments of your engineer, or by the close observations of 
competent judges ; but we are desirous that the reports of the 
judges, in such form as may express their approval (either 
entire or qualified, as the case may be) should be placed in the 
hands of exhibitors, before the general Exhibition-day, in sub¬ 
stitution of the individual money-prizes, as heretofore offered 
on the Society’s prize-sheets. 

“ In our desire for the abolition of general prizes, it is not 
our wish to prevent or discourage occasional offers of special 
prizes, of high reward for such implements as may appear to 
require the peculiar application of mechanical intelligence, to 
render ideas, not fully developed, practical for general useful¬ 
ness. INor do we wish the Society to be limited, in the distri¬ 
bution of its smaller medals, in such cases as it may appear de¬ 
sirable to mark approval of new inventions, as has heretofore 
been the practice. 

“ We beg respectfully to press these views on the considera¬ 
tion of the Council, feeling confident that, if carried out, the 
active co-operation of the Implement makers, as a class, will bo 


40 Mechanical Science and the Prize System, 

most effectually secured, and the objects of the Society more 
practically obtained.” 

This Memorial was signed by more than nine-tenths 
of the usual exhibitors of implements, at the Society’s 
annual shows, representing nineteen-twentieths of the 
value of the implements so exhibited. 

The experience of such practical men as dictated the 
Memorial, when we find it formally arrayed against a sys¬ 
tem of this kind, is a beacon to warn us what to shun; 
and the names of such men, thrown into the scale of 
authority, are decisive in favor of the suggested improve¬ 
ment. 

The fundamental errors of the Prize System are clearly 
set forth by the Memorialists. “ The ingenious pecu¬ 
liarities ” created by the fever-heat of competition, are 
novelties , no doubt, but they are so often without any 
discoverable practical purpose, that many choose the old 
standards of simplicity, with economy,—neatness with 
utility. 


“ And heed not whether things he old or new. 
But blame the false, and value still the true.” 


What, in fact, is the object of applying science to the 
business of the farm? Is it not utility? What is 
the first purpose of an agricultural implement-maker,— 
the first consideration, at least, under which he works? 
Utility. This fact is undeniable. Whatever other aims 
he may accomplish, unless he produce a really useful 
machine, he has failed. To disregard utility, in judging 
of any implement for the land, is as if a man were to point 
out the mechanism of a watch without any reference to 
its powers of indicating and keeping correct time. He 
may call upon people to admire the ingenuity and com- 


41 


in Relation to Agriculture. 

plexity of its workmanship, its wheel within wheel, the 
beauty of its enamelled face, or its engine-turned cases; 
but, after all, what is the first question asked by its pur¬ 
chaser ? Is it not, simply, “ Does it keep time well ? ” 
If the watch is found deficient in this respect, whatever 
other qualities it may possess, it is rejected as next to 
worthless. So it is with a machine. It may be neat in 
design, faultless in execution, but it is a bad machine, 
nevertheless, if it cannot be made to perform its work 
efficiently. Utility is the only measure of its value. If 
that fail, all fails. Vainly may judges agree on the small 
amount of fuel a steam-engine consumes in a given time, 
its speed and correctness of execution, for a short period, 
according to the rules of art, if, on trial, the farmer finds 
it breaks down, after a time, when it is applied to the 
ordinary work of the form ! Judges may lay down rules, 
and decide according to them; but a farmer cannot be 
brought to believe, that any engine is worth his money, 
unless it will do his work ! 

There is often a want of steadiness in what are termed 
“ highly-skilled manipulations/’ a want of clearness as to 
what is to be developed, that is very prejudicial, at all 
times. In studying to produce “ something new/’ it is 
forgotten that novelty is only good when it takes a useful 
shape. Trusting to mere novelty is sheer idleness, or 
weakness, if not something worse. Men who pander to 
this taste are alive to the fact, that some people make so 
much fuss about originality, as to accept anything with 
that pretension, in preference to the old style, however 
intrinsically superior it may be. A large number of 
errors, indeed, rise out of man’s determination to have 
something new. There is a halo floating over it which 
dazzles the popular eye, and bewilders the spirit of appre¬ 
ciative fairness. The new thing is taken up superficially, 
affectedly, idly, or with the purpose of being put forth in 
the way of trade or the way of notoriety, which charac- 

D 


I 


42 Mechanical Science and the Prize System , 

terizes too much the speculations of the time. The Prize 
System gives it peculiar temptation to display itself, lead¬ 
ing it to frivolize all it touches; for utility can scarcely 
be preserved where novelty and “ ingenious peculiarities ” 
are to he constantly dovetailed together. The reputations 
obtained by this kind of combination are often attended 
by some expense, as well as gain. Tact is required to 
avoid the sale of implements which are only made “ for 
showbut if this cannot be prevented, the fancy article 
may have to be replaced by one of a more durable cha¬ 
racter, at the cost of its maker, to appease the disappoint¬ 
ment of an angry customer. Ambition, if it usurp the 
rights of utility, must look for all the punishment that 
indignant utility can inflict! If such cases are rare, they, 
at least, serve to expose some of the inconveniences and 
drawbacks with which the Prize System is chargeable. 

But there is another serious result of this system, 
different in its nature, but also greatly to be deprecated, 
and that is the enormous expense which it brings on com¬ 
petitors, without an equivalent return. Each succeeding 
step in the race becomes more costly than its predecessor. 
The manufacturer, with an adequate capital, is urged for¬ 
ward, at headlong speed, and at great expense, to prevent 
being overtaken and beaten by others. A large outlay is 
thus often absolutely necessary to give competitors a 
chance of success. It is too expensive a pursuit, to be 
largely followed by any but the wealthiest of the manu¬ 
facturers. This, therefore, operates as a serious evil to the 
smaller of the class, many of whom are as effectually shut 
out from attempting to achieve distinction of this kind as 
if they dwelt in the moon. It is too often the expenditure 
of money, rather than the employment of real skill, that 
now wins the prize. 

This fact elicits another great disadvantage of the Prize 
System, to the farmer especially. None, indeed, are more 


in Relation to Agriculture . 43 

0 

interested in the success of the present undertaking than 
the farmers. The lavish expense incurred by makers,— 
.£500 to £1,000 having been spent by a single firm for one 
implement-show,—must be repaid to them from some 
source. They can only remunerate themselves for their 
outlay by adding to the price of their implements; and 
what, therefore, that source is, there can be no difficulty 
in guessing aright. But, besides this, the farmer is the 
sufferer in another way; and we would particularly draw 
his serious attention to this fact. The fluctuating charac¬ 
ter of the hot-bed productions of the Prize System pre¬ 
vents implement-makers from confining their attention 
to any one or more of their productions, so as, by manu¬ 
facturing a large number of them, to greatly reduce their 
present cost. It would not be prudent, under present 
circumstances, to manufacture more of any kind of imple¬ 
ment than is likely to meet the immediate demand, lest 
some trifling and useless alteration should be “ invented” 
in it, and have the effect of leaving the whole stock on the 
manufacturers hands. In alluding to “ trifling and useless 
alterations,” I am only stating a positive truth. It is 
within my own knowledge, that, notwithstanding all the 
prizes that have been awarded for “ alterations” and 
“refinements” in some implements, during a period of 
nearly ten years, these very implements are, at this 
moment, substantially the same as they were, when 

“ In the farm, they bore a useful part, 

Quite unindebted to the tricks of art.” 

% 

None of the “refinements” were found to be of any real 
use. They did not assist in the fuller development of the 
usefulness of such instruments, and have, therefore, been 
rejected as superfluous and inartistic. 

All this affords subject for the gravest reflection; and it 
is to be hoped that it will receive the especial consideration 

n 2 


44 Mechanical Science and the Prize System, 

of all those who are more immediately interested in the 
question. It must appear how economically important it 
is to the farmer, that the cost of his implements should 
not be artificially raised by the means just indicated. 
The best safeguard of the farmer’s pocket, indeed, is a 
thorough knowledge of the evils of the system which is 
here exposed. It is to his interest, more than to the inte¬ 
rest of any one else, perhaps, to value science, as applied 
to general husbandry, and to expend his money only on 
implements calculated to carry out that science benefici¬ 
ally. The manufacturer will find it to his interest to assist 
the farmer in this, if the farmer will but let him. Their 
real interests, in fact, are identical; and whatever benefits 
or injures either of these parties will, in the long run, 
benefit or injure the other. The Prize System has been 
allowed to grow into an abuse, than which nothing can be 
more injurious to all concerned in it; for, while the system, 
which bears testimony to some principle, is capable of 
being turned to good account, the abuse, which is the 
result of over-stimulus, becomes the antagonist of real im¬ 
provement. It is abundantly plain, that to go on in the 
old track is most impolitic; and it is equally plain that 
the manufacturers are tired of following its caprices, and 
that the farmers now receive little or no benefit from it. 
It is, therefore, clear to demonstration that farmers and 
manufacturers have it in their power, by a combined 
effort, to introduce a new and better system, and, ulti¬ 
mately, to influence all the agricultural societies to aban¬ 
don the old one. 

Having thus exposed the actual evil, I purpose, in the 
ensuing chapter, to offer a few practical suggestions for its 
possible remedy. 


in Relation to Agriculture, 


45 


CHAPTER IV. 

Suggestions for a Plan to encourage the Improve¬ 
ment of Agricultural Implements. 

Having endeavoured, in the preceding pages, to point 
out some of the more striking and characteristic objec¬ 
tions to the existing Prize System, it is now my duty to 
offer a few suggestions for a plan to take its place. 

It may not be possible so to shape these suggestions as 
to meet the views, and elicit the approval, of every one 
interested in the matter. Conflicting opinions and adverse 
theories are abroad on this, as well as on almost every 
other subject, that now agitates the world. It is well that 
it is so; for by different opinions formed on the same 
subject, under different circumstances, coming into col¬ 
lision, the light of truth is struck. Neither flint nor steel 
could, separately, be made to elicit sparks; but bring 
them into rough contact with each other, and the desired 
object is gained. 

It shall not, however, be said of the writer of this, as it 
has been said of others, “ Do something, and they w r ill 
find fault; say something, and they will have an answer; 
but they will neither say nor do anything for themselves.” 
Now, what I would say, and what I would do, is just 
this: 

All the implements sent for exhibition to any of the 







46 Mechanical Science and the Prize System, 

periodical shows of the Royal Agricultural Society, might, 
as now, he divided into sections. An annual trial of each 
section should be given, and ample time devoted to it. 
The mode of trial to be in accordance, as nearly as circum¬ 
stances would admit, with agricultural practice. 

Previous to the trials, a competent Board of Examiners, 
composed of agriculturists and agricultural implement- 
makers, with the consulting engineers of the society, 
should agree upon the points of excellence to be noted. 
Thus, for instance, a thrashing machine might be tested in, 

1. —Quality of materials. 

2. — Quality of workmanship. 

3. —Thrashing done clean, and without injury to the 

corn. 

4. —The separation of the loose grain from the straw. 

5. —Straw not injured. 

6. —Chaff blown out, without a mixture of corn. 

7. —Short straw, leaf, and cavings separated. 

8. —Barley avelled. 

9. —Quality of sample. 

10. —Weighed into sacks. 

11. —Quantity of clean corn. 

12. —Time of execution. 

13. —Amount of driving power. 

14. —Selling price. 

With these points arranged beforehand, the tasks of 
the jurors would be rendered definite and systematic, 
and, therefore, less difficult than by the present mode; 
while, at the same time, their reports would prove more 
advantageous to both the sellers and buyers of such imple¬ 
ments, if published immediately after the awards. Such 


in Relation to Agriculture. 47 

reports should include the opinion, fully set forth, of the 
agricultural jurors on the merits and defects of the imple¬ 
ments, in a practical and economical point of view, and 
the opinion of the engineers on the mechanical advan¬ 
tages and disadvantages of everything that related to the 
design and workmanship. 


“ In every work, regard the workman’s end, 

Since none can compass more than they intend ; 
And if the plan be good, the parts be true. 
Applause, in spite of other faults, is due.” 


To be effective, great care should be taken to frame 
these reports in a judicial, not in a competitive spirit, so 
that they might not only be a safe guide as to what to 
purchase, but what to reject, and so effectually discourage 
the production of mere prize toys. 

To give due effect to this plan, and general assent to 
the principles of it, no money-prize should he offered. The 
trade value of a real improvement far outweighs any 
amount likely to be given in immediate cash, or, indeed, 
any honour that can be conferred by mere prizes. The 
farmers will be sure to reward amply, by their purchases, 
the meritorious producer of any approved implement. 
All kinds of merit, as well as all grades of exhibitors, 
whether rich or poor, high or low, would thus stand on 
equal ground, and be judged alone by their deserts, agree¬ 
ably to the dictates of that impartiality and honesty which 
should be scrupulously observed in all cases of this 
nature. 

One great recommendation of this plan is, that it would 
protect competitors from the abuses incidental to the 
existing system of rewards, which exalts the few gainers of 
prizes, to the detriment and discouragement of a host of 
others. As only one or two can gain a prize for a par- 


48 Mechanical Science and the Prize System, 

ticular implement, it often happens that a score of other 
exhibitors pass unhonoured, though the merit of many 
may be but little inferior to the first and second successful 
candidates. Such results must arise from an entire mis¬ 
conception of the end to be accomplished. If, for instance, 
the several varieties of excellence in their instruments 
had been pointed out, and published in the way here 
advocated, all would then have come in for a due share 
of reward. Encouragement would also have been given 
to their further efforts, and, by studying to avoid the faults 
indicated, ultimate superiority might have been attained, 
and so the very design of the Prize System effectually 
carried out. 

It may be urged against this plan, that the practical 
direction of performances is often more difficult than the 
theoretical conception. The latter meets with no substan¬ 
tial difficulties, while the former may encounter obstacles 
destructive of its efficiency. No doubt, theory and prac¬ 
tice do not always harmonize; but no fear need be enter¬ 
tained that any such result will take place here. No 
great experience is required to mould the suggestions to the 
shape that would suit any given exhibition of agricultural 
implements. Little more is wanted than a wise selection 
of jurors, fitted for the particular departments to be 
assigned to them,—men of sufficiently large experience and 
judgment to make them able appreciators of merit, and 
keen detectors of mere pretence. It can hardly be 
doubted, that, in times like these, there are very many to 
be found in this country w r ho have undergone the disci¬ 
pline requisite for such offices, and who would be ready 
to take their parts in a scheme which would add to the 
trophies of genius, and unseal a well of delight for all who 
rejoice in the march of real improvement. 

These “ Suggestions for a Plan to encourage the Im¬ 
provement of Agricultural Implementsmaybe explained 


49 


in Relation to Agriculture . 

very imperfectly ; but no one will rejoice more than the 
writer, if the subject be taken up and improved by prac¬ 
tical men, and carried out to its legitimate results. It 
would then accomplish the whole object of agricultural 
exhibitions. Competent judges in each department of 
the mechanical arts of cultivating the land, with ample 
and undistracted trials, would report, on fixed principles, 
as to the merits or demerits of this or that class of 
machines or implements, every year; and, at one and the 
same time, the agricultural visitors would have the most 
favourable opportunity of examining everything in which 
they felt an interest, and observe it, too, in active opera¬ 
tion. Such as were unable to visit the show, or witness 
these trials, would have this satisfaction under their dis¬ 
appointment : they would have authoritative, scientific, 
and practical reports, to guide them in the choice of their 
purchases. 

There would, also, be another advantage attending the 
suggested plan, which should not be overlooked. The 
annual shows would be larger gainers in the extended 
interest they would excite; while the societies, under 
whose patronage they would take place, would gain in 
respect, in proportion as their authority and influence 
were properly or improperly exercised. Under the new 
order of things, their duties would be more important 
than they are now, or ever have been ; and on their 
efforts to procure correct and useful decisions would 
depend the benefits they conferred. 

This allusion to provincial societies is made on the un¬ 
certainty as to whether they will adopt the advice, given 
in a previous chapter, to unite with the Royal Agricul¬ 
tural Society of England. Such union would, I con¬ 
ceive, be a judicious step, and it would certainly give 
this suggested plan a better chance of success than it 
would have under present circumstances. Nothing less 


50 Mechanical Science and the Prize System , 

than the revenues and powers of one grand national insti¬ 
tution could furnish the necessary machinery for carrying 
out that plan to the perfection of which it is capable. 
Trial grounds should he provided; a permanent officer, 
accustomed to deal with machinery, should be employed 
to settle all the internal arrangements of the implement- 
yard, and the external arrangements for the trial of 
machines, and provide a written plan for the guidance of 
the stewards, jurors, and exhibitors; the most competent 
judges in every department should be engaged; and every 
proper means be provided, regardless of reasonable ex¬ 
pense, so that the great objects in view could be carried 
out promptly, efficiently, impartially, and beneficially. 
Provincial societies have neither the time, the means, nor 
the opportunities, of bringing all these appliances to bear 
on a given point, with such irresistible force and effect as 
one united, energetic, influential, and wealthy body would 
have. 

But even supposing, for the sake of argument, that 
local societies had all the means and appliances necessary 
for carrying out the great improvement in question, there 
is another class of men entitled to a voice in the matter. 
All inventors seek the means of exciting public attention, 
and of acquiring public approbation; and no opportunities 
are so available for these purposes as those offered by the 
annual shows of the Royal Agricultural Society. The 
enormous outlay of both time and money expended by 
the exhibitors, in preparing and conveying their imple¬ 
ments to these shows, would make them hesitate before 
doing the same thing too often. What they would be 
willing to do, on the occasions alluded to, they might 
object to repeat, at the invitation of any of the local societies. 
Having received the award of the first agricultural tri¬ 
bunal in the world, they could hardly be expected to 
appeal to any decisions of a second or third-rate character, 
especially as such a course would not be likely to add to 


in Relation to Agriculture . 51 

their fame, while it would he certain to largely increase 
their expenses. Some might, as they do now, so appeal, 
and very conflicting testimony be the result. How far 
this would operate injuriously may be gathered from 
what is now taking place frequently. The better way 
would be, to have only one tribunal, so long as the pre¬ 
siding judges of it were men of the very first stand¬ 
ing in their several departments, and thus secure a ready 
acquiescence in their decisions by the makers and em¬ 
ployers of agricultural implements. 

With regard to the decision of the Council of the 
Royal Agricultural Society on the reform here suggested, 
there is some hope. This hope is grounded on the move¬ 
ment made by them in the right direction, when they were 
induced, on the representation of a very large proportion 
of the implement-manufacturers, to apportion the Society’s 
prizes and trial in the implement-department over three 
years, instead of including them all in each successive 
year. The result, so far, has been all that could be ex¬ 
pected. The only show that has taken place under the 
new arrangement, at Chelmsford, is acknowledged, by 
competent judges, to have been by far the most interesting 
and instructive to the farmer; and it is to be hoped that 
this fact will have its due weight. If prizes for this or 
that kind of instrument were entirely abolished, it would 
remove the principal impediment that now obstructs 
makers from exhibiting a larger number of implements at 
work, each maker in his own particular way. 

The Council of the Royal Agricultural Society of Eng¬ 
land, however able and powerful, will hardly claim ex¬ 
emption from the most universal law of our nature,—that 
of the necessity of modifying theoretical views to actual 
circumstances. Both ability and power should be directed, 

not so much to the mastering and upholding of theories. 


52 Mechanical Science and the Prize System , 

as to the application of them judiciously, and suiting them 
to existing requirements. The Council have already ad¬ 
mitted, by their own acts, that the past plea for their 
Prize System is no longer applicable to the present. 
With power to perform a wise act, there can be no valid 
excuse for neglect of duty, except unfitness for duty. 
With full authority comes direct responsibility. It may 
be confidently anticipated, therefore, that this argument 
will present itself to the minds of such practical and intel¬ 
ligent men as form that Council, and carry due weight 
with it, at the same time. 

No disposition could be more hurtful in a society, of 
which they are the directors, than halting on the road of 
reform. It defeats public expectation, by partly neutraliz¬ 
ing that portion of good which has already been effected. 
This remark is not intended to censure piece-meal reform. 
Pit-by-bit reformation is not so objectionable, provided 
all the bits go on together. The Society still recognizes, 
as part of its arrangements for carrying on its scheme of 
agricultural improvement, the existence of a system 
which has become an unmitigated evil, not only to the 
purchasers of agricultural implements, but to the makers 
of them also. In this view of the matter, the Society has 
no other reasonable course to pursue than to act at once 
upon the advice of Hamlet, and “reform it altogether !” 
Let the complex system of money-prizes be totally abo¬ 
lished, and the agricultural implement-makers, like the 
manufacturers of any other kind of implement, be relieved 
of such artificial arrangements, and left entirely free to 
follow the natural course of trade, by fair and unshackled 
competition with each other. Mechanical science would, 
it is believed by sound judges on the subject, be then 
brought to bear more efficiently than now on all the 
processes of husbandry. 

The question of this reform should occupy the Society’s 


in Relation to Agriculture. 53 

first attention, and stimulate its immediate exertions. If 
any class of men is entitled to receive attention from the 
Council of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, it 
is surely that class which is directly interested in all that 
relates to the cultivation of the land. That farmers, as 
well as agricultural implement-makers, are injured by the 
Prize System must be evident to all who will take a lar^e 
and comprehensive view of its results, and it is equally 
plain, that the benefit of the many should outweigh the 
temporary profit that a few may derive from its continu¬ 
ance. As to those who are always opposed to what they 
term “ speculative changes,” and manifest an obstinate 
resistance to change, even when change would be an ad¬ 
mitted improvement, they are sure, sooner or later, to be 
hustled out of their place. There is nothing to fear from 
their opposition. If it be the duty of the Council, as it is 
liable to be every man’s duty, upon occasion, to oppose the 
sentiments of a class of their countrymen, let them endea¬ 
vour to secure the assistance of a still larger and more 
enlightened class to help them in the good work. It is 
always well for a society when its leaders take the right 
step at the right time,—when an experiment in their 
management is abandoned as soon as its evils are detected, 
and its results shown to be inimical to the prosperity of 
those for whose prosperity it was originally designed. 
It is quite certain, that, if the Council take the step here 
advocated, though they may possibly create a few enemies, 
they are sure of rallying around them numerous warm and 
energetic friends. 

It is not intended to assert, nor is it at all necessary to 
justify this publication that it should be asserted, that the 
benefits to be derived from the “ Suggestions for a Plan 
to encourage the Improvement of Agricultural Imple¬ 
ments” will be without disadvantages. It is not possible, 
perhaps, to achieve any thing so perfect as to be without 


54 Mechanical Science and the Prize System, &c. 

alloy. But it may be allowable to observe, that there is 
much in the plan suggested to excite hope, while there is 
certainly nothing in it to make it unreasonable to try,— 
fully, fairly, and patiently,—whether it be not possible to 
work it out, so as to bring about results beneficial and 
satisfactory to all interested in the trial. 


PRINTED BY HARRISON AND SONS, ST. MARTIN’S LANE, W.C. 


WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR. 


i. 

The Sixth Edition, Price Is., 

HOW TO STOP, AND WHEN TO STOP. 

PUNCTUATION REDUCED TO A SYSTEM. 

BY WILLIAM DAY. 


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[See next page .] 




II. 

To be Published on the ls£ of July, 1857, Price Is., 

The SECOND EDITION, with Additions, including an Original Letter 
of the late Thomas Clarkson, Esq., 

SLAVERY IN AMERICA 

SHOWN TO BE PECULIARLY ABOMINABLE, BOTH AS A POLITICAL ANOMALY 
AND AN OUTRAGE ON CHRISTIANITY. 

BY WILLIAM DAY. 


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abolition, and is entitled to thanks for his zealous and useful labours.”— 
Anti-Slavery Reporter. 

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thought.”— Christian Examiner. 

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general attention.”— Exeter Flying Post. 

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, <. if y c 


LONDON: HARRISON, 59, PALL MALL. 






AND 





IN 


RELATION TO AGRICULTURE. 


/ 

BY WILLIAM'DAY, 

AUTHOR OF “HOW TO STOP, AND WHEN TO STOP. PUNCTUATION REDUCED TO 

A SYSTEM,’ 

AND “ SLAVERY IN AMERICA SHOWN TO BE PECULIARLY ABOMINABLE.” 


LONDON: 

HARDISON, 59 , PALL MALL. 

1857. 


(Price One Skilling.) 













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